4 Vital Pool Maintenance Tips for Public or Well-Used Swimming Pools

Swimming Pool maintenance is more complicated than it looks, especially when it comes to maintaining the right balance of chemicals to effectively contain contaminants, microbial infections and diseases.

A study on chemical contaminants in swimming pools found that disinfection by-product levels vary due to many factors like the number of swimmers, pool management practices, treatment steps and type of pools. Other studies have linked illness outbreaks to poorly disinfected pools. This is a major issue with public pools. It can be an issue for a private pool, depending on usage.

Most people tend to think that a chemical or chlorine scent in a pool means it is clean. However, Pool Doctor of the Palm Beaches expert Holly Colasurdo said it is otherwise. In fact, she described pools with such a scent as “absolutely filthy”. “A properly balanced pool”, she said, “emits no odor.”

If you maintain a public pool, or your private pool gets well-used by your family and friends, there are a few practices you can implement to help your pool stay properly balanced.

Implement Pool Rules

Preventive measures must be initiated. You can minimize contaminants with simple steps like pre-swim showers, regular bathroom breaks, and making sure people with stomach or intestinal illness do not swim.

Proper and Regular Pool Maintenance

Ensure your pool gets the right cleaning and maintenance by hiring only licensed pool and spa cleaning companies. They are the authority when it comes to alternative and emerging treatment methods to improve pool water quality.

In a recent podcast, Pool Doctor of the Palm Beaches urged smaller commercial pool operators to schedule a twice a week clean-up, at the least, or thrice for larger commercial pools. The added frequency for services is especially important in heated pools as those tend to generate more algae.

Invest in a good filtration system

One major detail that needs serious consideration would be the type of pool filtration system used. All these are dependent on the pool’s size, use, cost consideration, electrical and plumbing works.

Keep up with the standards

There is no better way in doing things but to start it right. All pool owners, especially public swimming pools, must adhere to government set standards. After all, these are often research-based and are recommended to keep everybody safe.

Speaking of commercial pools, the Florida Swimming and Pool Association is alarmed with the legislators move to cut off inspections done by the Florida Health Department (DOH). The DOH has been inspecting public pools since the early part of the 1900s and has it down to an art. However, in an effort to streamline and prevent government oversight overlap, a new law was passed that could lead to another government body inspecting the structural elements around a pool. The DOH would still be responsible for water quality and safety. The FSPA and Pool Doctors of the Palm Beaches do not believe the community will be well served with such a split in pool inspections. The DOH has previously issued about 127,000 violations a year, either pool owners will be inconvenienced greatly with double inspections or important safety violations will be missed.

Regular inspection is critical to the industry, more so because Florida is known as the Sunshine State, receives 100 million tourists with 19.5 million citizens using some 37,000 public pools and spas. Help keep Florida and West Palm Beach public pools safe, sign the petition today and further check out our blog for more safety tips and information in achieving a well-balanced pool waters.